Australian Wins Island Resort in Pacific Raffled by Owners

An Australian won an island resort in the Pacific Ocean in a raffle after spending $49 in the contest, according to Agence France-Presse.

A New South Wales man only identified as Joshua won the drawing for the 16-room Kosrae Nautilus Resort on the remote Micronesian island of Kosrae, which is west of Hawaii and north of the Solomon Islands, noted AFP.

The resort's co-owner Doug Beitz told AFP that the resort is debt-free, profitable and has more than 20 years left on its lease. Beitz said he and his wife built the resort in 1994 and lived there for more than two decades, but wanted to return to Australia, noted AFP.

"We feel like a new chapter in our lives is beginning, and we're ready to pass the baton to someone else," Beitz said, according to CNN. "We've had our time in the sun and enjoyed a career most people would never even dare dream about, but our current goal now is to become professional grandparents."

Little was revealed about the raffle winner but Beitz's message to him, according to CNN, was, "Your life is about to change in a very special way."

The resort tried to reassure people on Facebook Monday about being entered in the drawing after apparent email problems. Beitz told AFP that the resort sold "tens of thousands" of raffle tickets from around the globe.

"We are working to resend as many tickets as possible to people (whose) email server has blocked them," the Beitz family said on Facebook Monday. "If your credit card has been charged, you are in the draw. Your email filter may have stopped your tickets from being received for many different reasons."

Beitz said he and his wife had no experience in the tourism or hospitality business when the built the resort and knew they were "taking a risk," reported the Daily Mail.

"… We were more petrified by the prospect of getting to 60 and wondering 'what if' and the mind-numbing monotony of 9-5 corporate life," Beitz said, according to the Daily Mail, adding that the resort comes with its 16 long-term employees. "We knew we had to take a chance."

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